Side view of a child looking at leaf through a magnifying glass, against a blurry leafy green background

Global Event

2026 City Nature Challenge

Join us April 24–27 for the 2026 City Nature Challenge.

City Nature Challenge
City Nature Challenge Logo with city, left, and bird icons

Mark Your Calendars for the 2026 City Nature Challenge

April 24 to April 27, 2026

The City Nature Challenge is an international effort to document nature in cities. The global event calls on current and aspiring community scientists, nature and science fans, and people of all ages and backgrounds to get outside and observe and submit pictures of wild plants, animals, and fungi during the Challenge dates in order to help scientists track real-time changes in our planet’s biodiversity and better understand wildlife conservation.

How to Participate

Download the iNaturalist app from the App Store or Google Play.

Step 1: Find wildlife anywhere in L.A. County (or your local area). 

Step 2: Take photos of WILD** plants & animals.

Step 3: Share Your observations in the iNaturalist app.

Step 4: Learn more as your finds get identified. 

**Wild means it was not put there or cared for by humans, so pets, zoo animals, potted plants, and city trees do not count for the City Nature Challenge.E

Partner Events Happening Throughout Los Angeles County

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

  • 2026 City Nature Challenge Data Collection
    •      Friday, April 24, 9am–7pm
    •      Hosted by LACO Dept. Parks & Rec - Natural Areas 
    •      San Gabriel River Park | 255 S. San Fidel Ave., La Puente CA 91746

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 

  • City Nature Challenge ID Party
    • Saturday, April 25, 9am–1pm
    • Hosted by City of Long Beach Office of Climate Action and Sustainability 
    • Willow Springs Park | 2745 Orange Ave, Long Beach, CA 90806
    • Our hope is to gather community members to record observations on an app called iNaturalist and increase engagement through nature-based activities,      games, and educational workshops. 
  • 2026 City Nature Challenge at the LAX Dunes Data Collection
    • Saturday, April 25, 9am–12pm
    • Hosted by LAWA Natural Resources Management 
    • North LAX Dunes | Meet at the gate on Waterview St at Trask Ave. (across the street from Trask Triangle Park): maps
    • Join us (and other cities around the world) for a fun day exploring and documenting our urban wildlife.
  • UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve GSOB BioBlitz Data Collection
    • Saturday, April 25, 9am–1pm
    • Hosted by UCLA Geography 
    • UCLA Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve | 1201 Stunt Rd. Calabasas, CA 91302
    • UCLA's Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains Reserve is excited to hold our first bioblitz looking for the gold-spotted oak borer (GSOB) at Stunt Ranch        Reserve! This invasive pest has caused widespread oak mortality and more eyes are needed to track the spread of GSOB across southern California. 
  • Bioblitz at the Manhattan Beach Dunes Data Collection
    • Saturday, April 25, 10am–12pm
    • Hosted by Heal the Bay 
    • Manhattan Beach Dunes | 1 45th Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
    • "Join The Bay Foundation, Audubon Society, Heal the Bay, and the City of Manhattan for a BioBlitz in the Manhattan Beach Dunes! Snap photos of wildlife, learn about dune ecology, and see how your observations connect directly to ongoing restoration work along the LA coast.
    • Observations collected during this BioBlitz will be uploaded to iNaturalist and contribute to the City Nature Challenge, a global effort to document biodiversity and engage communities in science."
  • City Nature Challenge at Rancho Los Alamitos Data Collection
    • Saturday, April 25, 1–3:30pm
    • Hosted by Rancho Los Alamitos 
    • Rancho Los Alamitos | 6400 E Bixby Hill Road Long Beach 90815
    • Join Rancho Los Alamitos for self-guided scavenger hunts and pick up some free giveaway items to be help you be a community scientist! Stop by our special pop-up booth and chat with staff and volunteers about the challenge along with information about monarch butterflies and urban wildlife at the Rancho. 
  • 2026 City Nature Challenge Data Collection
    • Saturday, April 25, 9am–7pm
    • Hosted by LACO Dept. Parks & Rec - Natural Areas 
    • San Gabriel River Park | 255 S. San Fidel Ave., La Puente CA 91746

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

  • Heal the Bay BioBlitz and Restoration Days- 2026 L.A. City Nature Challenge Data Collection
    • Sunday, April 26, 9am–12pm
    • Hosted by Heal the Bay 
    • Temescal Canyon | 700 Temescal Canyon Rd, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, CA 90272
    • We'll record observations of wild plants and animals at the event locations. After we explore and catalog the local plants and animals, we will join our partners in helping restore these natural habitats to protect these ecosystems.
  • 2026 City Nature Challenge Data Collection
    • Sunday, April 26, 9am–7pm
    • Hosted by LACO Dept. Parks & Rec - Natural Areas 
    • San Gabriel River Park | 255 S. San Fidel Ave., La Puente CA 91746

MONDAY, APRIL 27

  • 2026 City Nature Challenge Data Collection
    • Monday, April 27, 9am–7pm
    • Hosted by LACO Dept. Parks & Rec - Natural Areas 
    • San Gabriel River Park | 255 S. San Fidel Ave., La Puente CA 91746

iNaturalist How-To Videos

Adding an Observation on a Mobile Device

Adding an Observation via the Web

How to Take Identifiable Photos

The City Nature Challenge is brought to you by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences.

City Nature Challenge girl with binoculars
Global Community Science
How crowd-sourced science projects like the City Nature Challenge fuel research to protect our planet
Read more

Organized By

Logos of the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The City Nature Challenge is brought to you by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences.

Partners include the following:

Heal the Bay logo
Logo of Los Angeles World Airports Natural Resources Management in blue text with an image of a white butterfly over sand dunes on a blue background
Logo of UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden with Blue and purple text and a purple flower
Logo of Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy with white text, green hills, and blue ocean
Logo of Rancho Los Alamitos in brown and blue text
Los Angeles Zoo logo in blue with an image of a snake, rhinoceros, and gorilla in a circle
Audubon Center at Debs Park, Clipart of Great Egret soaring on top left corner
Santa Monica Mountain Fund (black text), clipart collage of different organisms in color
(top) Homies Unidos, (bottom) Believe in the possibility of a world without violence
(Top) Long Beach, (Bottom) Office of Climate Action and Sustainability
USC Viterbi, (bottom) School of Engineering, (Bottom) K-12 STEM Center 2026
The Arboretum (Main text in brown, with a simple green tree in between), Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden (subtext)
(left) Image of overlapping Yellow-Blue-Green semi-circled shapes, (right, main text) LA County Chief Sustainability Office, (subtext) Environment, Economy, Equity
Clipart of open book stacked on "Los Angles", which is stacked on "Public Library" in black
Audubon Center at Debs Park, Heal the Bay, Los Angeles World Airports, Los Angeles Zoo, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, Rancho Los Alamitos, UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden, USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center, Homies Unidos, Santa Monica Mountain Fund, and The City of Long Beach Office of Climate Action and Sustainability, LA County Arboretum & Botanical Garden, LA County Chief Sustainability Office, LA Public Library